In a high-voltage energy supply system, a high-current switching arrangement is incorporated into an electrical connection between a generator and a transformer. This switching arrangement is capable of conducting high continuous currents and of interrupting high short-circuit currents. Accordingly, this arrangement is provided with a circuit interrupter, described as a generator circuit-breaker, with a power switching point in which, during a switching process, a contact member of high mass is accelerated at a substantial rate. The energy specified for this purpose is generated by a high-power drive which occupies a substantial amount of space.
A high-current switching arrangement of the above-mentioned type is described in the commercial document “Generator Circuit-Breaker Systems HECS, HEC7/8” published by the firm ABB Schweiz AG, Zurich, Switzerland. In this high-current switching arrangement, the three phase-segregated breaker poles of a generator circuit-breaker are arranged on a pole frame. Each of these breaker poles is provided with an enclosure, configured as a box-type enclosure, which accommodates at least a power switching point, but also additional switching components such as disconnectors, ground electrodes and starting switches, and may also accommodate further components such as instrument transformers or surge arresters. The enclosure is provided with two openings, arranged in two side walls opposite each other and through which, after incorporation in a shock-hazard-protected three-phase generator duct, one of the three phase conductors respectively of the generator duct is routed. Next to the pole frame, a drive is arranged transversely to the direction of routing of the phase conductors, which acts on the three power switching points via a linkage mechanism.
EP 1284491 B1 describes a three-phase generator circuit-breaker, the three power switching points of which are arranged directly on a single pole frame, e.g., with no shock-hazard protection. A drive is secured to the pole frame below the power switching points, which acts on all three switching points via a linkage mechanism.